Case Study

Literature

Shortlist for London Overground extension cut to three

The shortlist of firms bidding to carry out the construction project to extend the London Overground to Barking Riverside has been trimmed down to three.

Transport for London (TfL) has narrowed down its shortlist of contractors to a final three - Balfour Beatty, Carillion and VolkerFitzpatrick. They will make detailed bid submissions in the new year.

A Transport and Works Act Order for the £260 million project was submitted to the transport secretary in March this year and awaits approval, with construction set to start late next year if planning permission is granted. Services would then start in 2021.

The 4.5km extension would see an extra line running parallel to the existing track for 3km between Barking Station and Dagenham Dock. Instead of carrying on towards the Dagenham stations, however, the new line will turn southwards and travel along a 1.5km spur to the new Barking Riverside development, a 10,800-home residential scheme built on the site of the former Barking Power Station.

There will be a new station at the end of the line and trains from here will provide an easy link into central London, taking commuters into the heat of the capital in less than half an hour. Travellers will also be able to connect with the London Underground at Barking and Dagenham, where the District and Hammersmith & City lines call. It will also connect with the C2C line and offer a link into central London via Fenchurch Street Station, and eastwards into Essex.

It will be the latest development in the success story of London Overground, which has seen a 400 per cent rise in passenger numbers on what were in many cases underused suburban rail lines. The system also absorbed the small East London Line on the Underground, which used to connect the Shoreditch area with New Cross via Wapping, Rotherhithe and Canada Water. This now extends through Hackney and forms part of a circular route that enables travellers to bypass central London.